The Workforce
by Mimi 143
Summary: While grieving his recent and final loss of River in a small American town, his spirits are lifted when he bumps into young River, known as Melody Pond. The Doctor takes her on a trip to New Earth to visit the city of New Paris; However, things go terribly wrong. Now the Doctor is faced with questions of morality, and has to protect Melody from discovering her dangerous future.
1. Prologue

Once upon a time, in a rural American town lived, lived an average, ordinary, everyday 14 year old girl. Well, she was average for the most part. She loved going to parties with her friends, she fought with her parents, and she loved staying awake until the moon set and sleeping hours after the sun had risen; but that was the only side of her she showed the world. When she was alone, she became the person she really was; the person she kept deep down inside herself, locked away for fear of judgment.

When she was alone, she was a dreamer, always looking to the stars for answers and to books for adventures. And on very rare occasions, she went to the television for stories. But she saw how it ate peoples' lives up: the idiotic behavior displayed in news stories nightly, the ludicrous scenes on teen dramas weekly; so she made sure that when she watched, it was only for one thing: for the story of a sweet old mad-man who traveled everywhere in a box. She had been watching the program for so long that she had come to believe that she knew every adventure he ever had, every person he had ever known, and every fable he had ever told. She thought she knew his past, present, and future… she thought she knew everything there was to know about the Doctor. But anyone she talked to would just roll their eyes and scoff, telling her he was only a character fabricated for a ridiculous television show. But she didn't listen to them. She kept looking to the stars: dreaming, wondering, observing.

And although she knew was wrong pretty often, the first time positive about she was right was when she thought about the beauty of the universe and realized: the Doctor is, was, and always shall be, real.


	2. Chapter 1: Fish Fingers & Custard

August 12 had to be one of the hottest nights that entire summer. And of course it was the night she chose to stay outside. She lay sprawled out on her rough, shingled roof, clad in an old pair of orange cut-off shorts and an overused black sports bra. She could feel the salty sweat dripping from every pore in her body; but she didn't mind. She was used to it. And she was anticipating the meteor shower that was forecast that night.

But as the hours dragged on, she could feel her brain giving in to the comforting lull of the locusts' buzz and the cool breeze that tickled her nose. But she was stubborn, and she resisted- she came to watch meteors, so she would. She began to become bored lying outside, her sweat plastering her skin to the scratchy roof.

She sat up and looked up and down the street of her small, quaint town. The streetlights hummed with electricity and every house had a perfectly groomed lawn with gardens that looked like nothing more than disheveled rainbows in the dark. It was so beautiful. And she loathed all of it. It's perfection and serenity made everything seem unimportant-pale-in comparison.

All she wanted was to get as far away as possible from it; she could easily picture herself just walking out of her front door, leaving a note for her parents and feeling no regrets. But that wasn't all she wanted. She wanted to get away from the entire world- she wanted to travel the stars, see all the galaxies in the ever expanding universe! But she knew it was only possible with the intervention of one peaceful, kind-natured and loving man; One man who knew everything and loved everything. A man who she was beginning to lose faith in as the night continued on.

Lost in her thoughts about planets and stars, her eyelids became droopy and she started to drift out of consciousness. Then there was a flash of hot, white light. Her eyes shot open and she sat straight up.

_It was a meteor!_she thought to herself _I just missed it... dammit!_Her childish excitement died down again. But then it came back when something else happened.

A loud noise erupted from nowhere echoing down the dark, quiet street, sounding something like a muffled vacuum becoming louder and louder by the second. Surprised by the peculiarity of the situation, she coaxed her nervous legs to scoot to the edge of the roof to get a better look at the neatly trimmed lawn below her where the sound seemed to be coming from. Sure enough, she saw something materializing there. All that was there was a brilliant, blue box- but it made her heart leap with joy.

"It's... him..." she whispered to herself in awe. Her entire brain felt like mush. There was no other explanation for the feeling she felt. It was mush. Everything.

Her heart beat pulsed through her fingers and toes and she regained control of her limbs. She flew back through her window she used to get onto her roof, concentrating on being silent; she flashed down the stairs, listening to the creak of the old wood covered by worn, once-white wall-to-wall carpeting. Within seconds she arrived in the kitchen where she got just two things: a bowl of creamy vanilla custard and a platter of hot, crispy, fried fish fingers. She arranged the food as quickly as she could, while still trying to make sure it looked presentable.

She made sure to be extremely careful and quiet while opening the door with one hand and wrestling a bowl of fish fingers and custard with the other. She heard the click of the lock releasing from the wall. She stepped outside and stepped onto her concrete porch, taking slow steps to her lawn. Although it was so hot, she suddenly felt cold and exposed walking on the cool stone showing her midriff. When she got to the steps, she saw a scrawny man in suspenders and a bow tie, sitting in the grass; his head down, and taking deep, slow breathe; he was crying. He leaned against his blue box. When he finally noticed her presence after what felt like hours of standing and watching, he looked up at her quite startled and almost a bit embarrassed, the girl thought. Tears had made his eyes puffy and his cheeks flushed. His hair was a long and was mostly combed over to one side of his head, gelled neatly so it had a sort of "poof" effect.

The young girl didn't know what to do. She just stared at him as he stared back.

Although she had gone over the meeting hundreds of times in her head, this is not at all what she had imagined. She was terrified and excited and wasn't sure what to say. She realized how strange and indecent she must have looked to him, holding a cold bowl of custard to her fleshy, exposed belly. She was suddenly aware of the tightness of her shorts. She was aware of her messy, greasy hair.

She was suddenly aware that she would have to talk to him at some point. Nothing came to her mind. She couldn't talk about the weather: he hated small talk. She couldn't ask why he was crying, at least not yet: that seemed to rude. She racked her brain for the perfect way to start a conversation with her hero. _What do I say? What do I say?_

She didn't decide to speak. Her mouth and her brain had been conspiring against her; her lips and tongue prepared themselves to talk without her consent. And she then she said what she had been aching to for to long:

"...Doctor?..."


	3. Chapter 2: A Confused Timelord

He said nothing. He stared at her with a look of complete and utter confusion- not annoyance or anger.

Finally his lips formed words: her heart raced, her brain whirled. _These are the first words he will ever speak to me. He's speaking to me!_ He looked her up and down, stopping at the fish fingers.

Finally, after what seemed like years of preparation, he spoke his first words to her: "What?!"

His face twisted up and he looked up at her, scanning her face to see if he could recognize her in some way. And he didn't. He stood up abruptly.

"I... Erm... have some fish fingers and custard for you!" she said, holding the bowl out before her so he could see the food.

"Well yeah I see that! But…. What?!" He said it the exact same way he did the first time with the same exact face.

"Well I thought you might be hungry from your travels and everything... oh!" she laughed awkwardly, "I forgot to introduce myself... I'm, uh, Melody by the way."

"Melody...Your name is… Melody? That's not a very common name, Melody. Your name is Melody. Really?" he said, shocked for a reason beyond her knowledge.

"Erm, yes. Is there a problem with my name, Doctor?" she asked, smirking. She realized she asked a simple question with more sass than was called for; but he didn't seem to mind. He almost seemed amused by it.

"No! No I think Melody is a great name- very lovely! But can I ask your last name, if you don't mind?"

"Pond. Melody Pond." She said shortly.

"Your name is Melody Pond?" He asked. She began to wonder if the Doctor really was the genius she had always believed he was.

"Well, yes... if you don't mind my asking… why is that so special?" she asked almost laughing at the sight of him.

"That's impossible!" he said, disregarding her question. He walked in circles around her, waving a green stick over her body she recognized as a sonic screwdriver. He looked at it and laughed.

"Excellent! Oh that's fantastic! Oh, and I'm the Doctor, by the way, but you already knew that, Melody Pond; which, come to think of it, doesn't make much sense, but then again a lot of my life doesn't make sense. And thank you very much for the fish fingers and custard!" He finally took the heavy glass bowl out little Melody's hands and started eating. "Now, may I ask you how you know my name-no-better yet- how do you know I like fish fingers and custard?" Holding the bowl close to his chest, he squatted so he had to look up at Melody and she down at him.

"Well, Doctor, that's a long story. Rather hard to explain to you, I would think." She didn't want to tell him he had his own television show; she felt like somehow it would be bad news. And it really wasn't the most exciting thing.

He dipped his fried fish into the custard and took a large bite, a little bit of the yellow dessert dribbling from the side of his mouth. He obviously was hiding a lot from her, even if it was only his emotions. "May I ask you why you were crying just a few minutes ago, Doctor?" She asked, immediately regretting the decision. She had already decided it was a bad idea: and now she had just broken one of her few rules set for herself: 3. Don't ask risky questions.

"Long story. Rather hard to explain to you, I would think." he said in her tone. She was relieved when he didn't take offense. He cheekily winked at her and gave a small smile.

"Well, isn't that a coincidence? Two long, hard to explain stories... we must make a good pair then, you and I," she said.

"Yeah... maybe. They could probably entertain us for hours," he said, as if weighing his options of bringing her or not.

"Maybe even days!" she said excitedly, hoping for the best.

"What do you say then? Will you come with me?" He said, already knowing the answer but asking it just for effect.

Melody paused and took a step back. She was doing it for affect, but wanted to see how he would react. "But…Leaving my life so suddenly…just dropping everything and going with you; what about school and my family?" she said sadly.

"Oh..." His face dropped a little and nodded sadly. "Okay. Yeah. I understand, Melody Pond."

"Doctor!" Melody laughed. "Oh, you are so thick! Of course I'm coming with you! I wouldn't pass it up for all the money in the world!"

"Really? Oh that's wonderful!" He smiled again and stood up to his proper height. He opened the tall blue door behind him with a "click.".

"Wait," he said, stepping back and turning to look at Melody, suddenly serious with a touch of fear in his tone. "Before you go in, there is something you need to know." He paused, slowly waving his hands through the air and wobbling a bit. He flashed his smile. "It's bigger on the inside." And with that he opened the doors, letting the excited little girl walk into his home.

"This, Melody Pond, is my TARDIS!"


	4. Chapter 3: The First Ride

Melody floated into the magical machine with wide, unbelieving eyes. Her smile spread so far across her face she thought she might make her cheeks fall off. Try as she might to hide her excitement, she couldn't and burst out like a two year old into hyperactive talk:

"Doctor, this is everything I ever dreamed it would be! In all my wildest dreams I never thought this could happen to anyone, let alone me! It's so beautiful and colorful and oh look that's the control table!" she ran over and ran her small hands over the variety of gears, leavers, buttons, pulleys, cables, keyboards and thing-a-ma-bobs. Then, suddenly feeling an unnatural cold feeling under her feet, she turned her attention to the ground beneath her. "And there is that ridiculous glass floor you always slip on- Oh! It's so shiny, I never even realized it! How do you even keep it so clean in here with everything you do, being tidy would be the last of my worries, in fact it is, seeing the state my room is in…" She rambled on like this for a while before she finally came to her senses and turned to look at the man with twinkling eyes and ruffled hair. "Being here..._inside_ the _actual_ TARDIS, owned by the _actual_ Doctor himself… I just can't believe it!" She giggled like a little innocent girl and twirled around the room, feeling freer than ever before.

The Doctor walked over to the control table and set down his empty bowl on the console. He laughed watching Melody spinning around like a child. Her spunkiness and energy reminded him so much of another child he met so many years ago… a child with ginger hair… and sarcasm… and just as much eagerness to see everything there is to see….

"Melody...Melody...Melody!" She couldn't hear him calling her name she was so caught up in her dream. Finally when she came close to him, he caught hold of her around her shoulders to stop her from spinning so she would listen. "Melody," he said, suddenly stern, looking into her soul. "Before we go, I have to ask you a very important question. The most… important question you will be asked by me, actually." Melody's head was spinning from not only dizziness, but also from her confusion of the Doctor's sudden seriousness.

"No lying, Melody. You have to be completely honest with me." He continued looking deep into her chocolate brown eyes. Suddenly, his expression changed within a split second- the giddy twinkle returned to his eyes and his mouth returned to its natural wide smile. All the doubt and fear left Melody's mind at once. "Where do you want to go first?"

"Well... anywhere! I don't care! As far away as we can go!" she sighed in relief.

"Alright then... You asked for it!" Melody's stomach flipped and the Doctor ran around as they laughed and he pulled down leavers and pushed buttons.

"Melody," he said almost mumbling, "could you please press and hold that button underneath the sonic fluctuation passage tube?"

"Uh… what… which one?" She said, completely lost and nervous.

"The one to the right of the probe release leaver!" he said preoccupied with his own business.

"Erm..." Melody had no idea what parts the Doctor was going on about- she was just going to ask him for help, but he looked so busy and stressed himself, spinning wheels and pulling gears; so, to take some of the stress off him, she decided to find the closest button to her... and, well, press it- just like he asked. What happened next was exactly what she was terrified of-the whole ship started to shake and the first thing that came to her mind was, that she was going to be the one responsible for her and the Doctor's deaths. Melody hung on as tightly as she could to the console. _We are going to crash! We are going to crash and die and it's my entire fault! _ Melody frantically thought to herself.

But when she looked at the Doctor, he was completely oblivious to what was going on! He looked up from his gears when he could tell something was wrong with Melody.

"Oh don't mind that. This is what a normal trip in the TARDIS feels like! The button you just pushed, that just got us going. No worries!" He said to calm her. And like nothing was happening, he sat back in his white vinyl chair and patted the empty side next to him offering Melody a seat.

She quickly let go of the handle she was holding onto with dear life and ran over to him. "You know, Doctor, you might wanna get that fixed… hell, I could probably drive Her better than you all alone!" she said tauntingly.

"Believe me, Melody Pond… I will never let you be alone in something so big…" he said looking around the huge, futuristic room.

Feeling suddenly awkward for some unknown reason, she decided to make small talk between the two of them. "So, er, Doctor," she said uncomfortably. "Can you tell me where we are going?" she began to feel more and more nauseous as she held onto the seat for dear life.

"Yes, I can! Well…. mostly. So- most people seem to think that time is simply a strict line of cause and effect-BUT!" The Doctor hopped out of his seat and started flicking switches and pulling leavers on the control table. "From a non-linear, non-subjective point of view, it's more like a great big ball of wibbley-wobbley… timey-wimey…stuff."

Melody made a face at the Doctor (but she was laughing on the inside). "That still doesn't answer my question, Doctor!" She complained teasingly. He ran up to Melody a tapped her nose with his pointer finger.

"I'm getting there, Melody! Gosh you sure are an impatient one." He ran over to the other side of the control room and down a flight of stairs where Melody could see him fiddling with some wires under the glass floor as he spoke. "So basically where we are going is either forward millions of years in time or backwards millions of years in time, and it doesn't matter which one since it is all pretty much the same place! I think…" the Doctor turned his eyes up as if looking into his brain to find the answer. Melody noticed this and thought to herself answering his question for him in her mind_- You're not. _And she giggled to herself at his naiveté.

"And you don't have any idea in which direction we are going?" Melody watched the Doctor as he ran back up the stairs and stood on the other side of the console.

"Not in the slightest!" He said, as if it was the best news in the world.

At that moment, a large CRASH shook the entire room, throwing Melody out of her seat and the Doctor onto the floor.

Still recovering from the surprise and sitting up from her new seat on the TARDIS floor, she saw the Doctor sit straight up with a hungry, excited look on his face from the opposite side of the console.

"And now, Melody, we are about to see where I have taken us!"


	5. Chapter 4: A Whole Lot of New

The Doctor (because he had the dexterity to make even the most mundane tasks exciting) flounced off the floor with a surprising grace that one would normally find in a ballerina and bolted to the door; every trace of sadness that had been there the first several minutes Melody and him were together had disappeared completely. All that was left was his usual childish excitement that filled Melody with a kind of happiness which she had never felt before. An indescribable feeling that, while joyful, was also pensive: she had never felt this amazing, free feeling which the Doctor gave her. Would she ever feel it again?

"Well come on, then! Don't you want to come see what disaster I've taken us to?" He yelled back in Melody's direction, who was still sitting in shock on the ground. She slowly got up off the floor and patted her hair to make sure her bun was still in place; she was a bit embarrassed about having the Doctor see her looking so disheveled.

The Doctor smiled when he saw her finally standing and made Melody's stomach flutter in an abrupt jolt of exhilaration; in one sweeping motion, he opened the thin, travel-worn, blue door and stepped outside: "Oh, this is _fantastic!"_ he shouted as he disappeared into the unknown world.

And Melody heard no more. A sudden jab of fear ran through her after being left alone in the TARDIS.

"Doctor, wait!" she called, running to the door. She was outside faster than she had expected and her head spun, trying to soak in all the new scenery. Without looking behind her, she closed the door, now frantically looking all around to see where he might be. Melody had expected him to be right outside the door: his iconic bowtie and cheeky smile that made his eyes twinkle like the stars, to be there- waiting for her and only her. And while she envisioned it so easily, so crystal clear and perfectly, her expectations were not reached when she looked back and forth for him. An unspeakable dread ran through her veins.

"Thought that might speed you up," he finally said from behind her, making Melody start with panic-stricken surprise.

"DOCTOR! holy shit I thought you were dead or some creature came out and attacked you or something why would you do that its not even funny! JESUS CHRIST!" she screamed, hitting his arms, legitimately angry at him and close to tears.

"Hey! Watch the arms! I'm very fragile," he said, with a child-like hurt creeping into his voice.

Melody ignored his pleas and kept yelling at him: "I thought you had left me! I thought… I thought I was stuck here…"

"Well I didn't. And I never would. I'm sorry, Melody…" he looked into her eyes, and she saw that he wasn't lying. Although she knew rule #1 (the Doctor always lies), she also knew he had a rule that was never spoken: he wasn't lying when he said sorry.

She looked into his eyes and gave him a melancholy smile as he took her hands in his. When they were apart, they looked similar in age: steady and tender. But together, the differences were noticeable: hers were still youthful fleshy, and undersized, incapable of strenuous work; but she could see that his were aged, worn, and of considerable size. While the Melody knew the rest of him changed, she wondered if his hands and eyes ever did.

"Okay," she said, now showing her real, full and happy smile. He laughed, happy for her being accepting, and she joined in.

"Melody," he said, not looking at her but at the green ocean of grass that surrounded them, "I welcome you to the planet of New Earth! The year is 5 billion and we are just outside the city of New Paris in the New Countryside of New France! That sure is a lot of new, isn't it?" He added at the end, mumbling more to himself than to Melody.

"New Paris?" Melody asked, looking around. All she saw was a pasture of poppies and other flowers and weeds. "Well… where is it?"

"I'll explain that later," he said passively. "So, Melody, since we are here on new earth in this new city, I have my psychic paper," he held up a small brown leather notebook, "and we literally have all the time in the universe, what would you like to do first?"

"How should I know? The farthest I've ever been from home is New York City!"

"New York…. really? Where do you live?" The Doctor said surprised.

"Just some crappy little town in Maryland," she said passively, preoccupied with raking in all the new scents and sights and feelings.

"Seriously?" the Doctor said surprisingly.

"Yeah! Is there a problem with that?" Melody said defensively. She was surprised when she realized she actually missed it a little bit.

"Well, no I love- Maryland, was it? Great… great place… But I suppose we better make the most of it! How 'bout we go and see the queen of New France? D'you think that beats New York?" he said cheekily.

"Well of course it does, but dressed like this? Doctor, are you insane or just an idiot?" she said sarcastically.

"Well-"

Melody giggled at his attempt to answer her sarcastic, rhetorical question. "I meant that I need proper clothing!"

"Oh! Right, of course! Course you did- right- okay, Melody, listen up. Go into the TARDIS, go down the hall, turn left, up the stairs, down the corridor turn right at the first door on your left and then straight down there is a door that says: Wardrobe."

"Awesome- be out in a sec!" Melody smiled and ran inside.

When Melody returned, she was wearing a flowing white dress, complimenting her dark skin. On her feet were a pair of plain yet pretty pumps, a surprising choice according to her personality. Her hair was in the same style but redone to be neater and a pink-colored ribbon was tied around it. The Doctor was wearing the same thing as he was before, but with one eccentric added accessory.

"Doctor, do you really need to wear the fez?" Melody said with a pained expression on her face.

"Yes! Fezzes are cool! And I happen to know that they are the official hat of New France," he boasted.

"I don't care if they are or not, but you look ridiculous! The bow tie and the fez? It's like a cry for help or something!" She pleaded.

"I keep the fez or I exchange it for a Stetson instead."

"Touché," she said unhappy with her loss.

The Doctor held out his elbow for Melody to take. The two started walking through the grass laughing and gazing at the scenic countryside.

"While we are on the subject of clothing," The Doctor said (despite the fact they had been off the subject for quite some time now), "could I ask why you chose such a…" The Doctor trailed off.

"A what, Doctor?" Melody said trying to coax the question out of him.

"Um- err, such a formal dress? It seems- um, a little out of character…"

"Well it could have something to do with the fact I'm going to meet a _queen_, Doctor. And... I just simply liked it… There's no other reason, really." She looked up at him. She didn't understand why it was such a big deal for him- it was just a white dress.

"Okay… I was just wondering," He said as if nothing had happened. Melody was still perplexed at the odd question.

The pair continued on their walk over the New France country side, now swallowed up in an uncomfortable silence. Melody thought of ways to change the subject. Without thinking, she looked down at her feet sniffing.

"Doctor… that smell is that- is that apple grass?"

"Yes!" he said, bending down to pull a tuft of the rough grass from the dirt. "Genetically engineered grass formed from a small sample taken from earth mixed with the DNA of an apple to give it its scent!" but suddenly his mood changed, and his face contorted as if the scent had suddenly turned sour. He looked down his nose at Melody. "But, how do you know what that is? You said the farthest you have ever been from your home is New York City. And we are here- millions-billions, even- of years in the future standing on a planet trillions of light-years away- and you know what apple grass is."

Melody suddenly realized she had made a huge mistake- her television show would stay a secret- if he found out he knew about apple grass from watching a series all about him, she knew the outcome would be a disaster. She had to fix her fault somehow. "That's correct," she said shortly, looking forward and not slowing her pace.

"But how do you know what that is?" he asked, seemingly growing impatient. Stepping in front of her, hindering her path. She stopped shortly and continued avoiding looking into his ancient, all-knowing eyes.

"Doctor," she finally said, "I will promise you something: I will tell you soon enough. I'll tell you anything you want to know. But for now… let's just say they're spoilers." She knew it was a mistake, quoting her favorite character. But it was the only thing that came to her mind.

The Doctor cleared his throat. They entered yet another period of painfully awkward silence. The Doctor didn't take Melody's arm again. Instead, he walked at a quick pace, forcing Melody to walk at top speed to keep up.

He almost seemed mad at what she had just said. So far, their trip was going terribly. _He must be PMSing,_ she thought, laughing to herself.

Finally the skyline of the city rose into existence just half a mile away from them.

The Doctor stopped his quickened pace and finally looked back at Melody, who he realized looked a bit unhappy. "I'm sorry… again…"

"It's alright," Melody lamented forgivingly. He smiled.

"And there it is! The city of New Paris!" The Doctor said with a silly grin on his face.

"Oh my god…" Melody sighed.

"What?" The Doctor asked suddenly scared by the tone of Melody's voice.

"It's so beautiful…" The Doctor laughed at Melody's astonishment and took her hand as she stared, awe struck at the glistening city. "Wait… Doctor, we have been walking on flat land this entire time with clear skies! How did the city just come into view now?"

"Well, if you thought about it, which you adorable little humans never do-no offense-"

Melody cut in: "None taken-"

Then he continued: "-then you would have realized that in the year 5 billion, there would be so much more fantastic, advanced, brilliant, awesome-"

"Okay, I get it," she cut in, annoyed at his insults.

" Sorry, I just got carried away. And this _ingenious_ technology would include something known as Chameleon walls for disguising cities & them safe."

"Safe from what, Doctor?" Melody questioned him, surprising him at her curiosity; but she wasn't asking out of an intense desire to know: she was panicked that something would come out and attack her at any moment.

"That I don't know yet." He said, now striding toward the city. "But I guarantee you, Melody Pond, we are going to find out today."


	6. Chapter 5: The New the Old and the Weird

In no time, Melody and The Doctor had reached the gates around New Paris where there were lines of people standing.

"Now why are they just standing there? Why don't they just walk in?" The Doctor asked to himself.

"It looks like they're standing in a security line like the ones at the airports," Melody piped in.

"Security lines… why would they have security lines here?" The Doctor asked looking around for some sort of explanation why.

"Well you said the chameleon walls were there to keep the people of New Paris safe from something. Maybe It's a security check for a mutant or robot of some sort."

"But look at them! No, I don't think it's a security line. Look…. People in lab coats, medical bags, gloves…" The Doctor ran forward towards the line to get a closer look at the line and the workers. "No, this isn't a security line. This is a hospital- a small hospital on the city limits of New Paris. Something about New Earth and thier hospitals…. But look closer, Melody."

Melody strained her neck to get a better look. "They just look like normal, healthy people, Doctor," she said.

"Exactly! It's not a hospital for sick people… it's for something else…"

"I can see tools, Doctor- from here it looks like there is a tray of scalpels, little metal things, and eww- mini... drills."

"Melody, your eyes are fantastic! Remind me to thank them. But where were we... the doctors... why do they have drills..."

Melody watched intently as the Doctor made faces, racking the endless filing cabinets in his Time Lord mind.

"Those Doctors are chipping all those citizens!" He finally exclaimed.

It suddenly clicked in her mind. "You can't go into the city unless you've been chipped!" she gasped. "Doctor I don't wanna get chipped! I don't even know what they do, I'm not goin' anymore!"

"Don't worry. I promise you aren't going to be chipped," The Doctor said trying to calm her.

"And how d'you think you'll go about that?" She asked with a fiery attitude showing.

"Well someone who has already been in the city has obviously already been chipped, right?"

"Yes but-"

"Just hold on! So we are gonna be people who have already been in the city."

"Doctor when you say "we're gonna be people from the city" you don't mean dressing up in Halloween costumes by any chance, do you? Please tell me we're only dressin' up in Halloween costumes."

"Technically," he said shakily.

"Well technically doesn't really cut it, Doctor. Besides, who do you even know who is from the city? As far as I know, this is your first trip to New France as well!" Melody said about to explode from frustration.

"Well it is. But that doesn't mean I don't know people from the city. You did come to see the queen today, didn't you?"


	7. Chapter 6: The Queen of New France

"Doctor, what are you gonna do to me?" Melody asked nervously.

"Follow me," the Doctor said grabbing Melody's hand and pulling her behind a large pile of boulders; she reluctantly ran behind him, with an occasional spurt of pain running up her leg from the too-high heels that were strapped to her feet. He swiftly pulled her down next to him on the ground, causing her silky white dress to cascade in ripples around her legs.

He retrieved his psychic paper from his breast pocket, holding it close to his face, studying it carefully until it showed him whatever it was he needed to see. He pulled his sonic out of his pocket, eyes still locked on the image the psychic paper was displaying.

"Will you hold this for a quick minute?" he asked, handing he the psychic paper to her as he fiddled around with the handle of the screwdriver. "Ah! There we go. Okay just hand it back to me please, thank you much." He said, as she did as he told her. He waved the his contraption over the paper, but instead of the usual futuristic, green light that Melody expected, a darker light, almost blue, came out.

"What are you doing?" she wondered aloud as she watched him.

"I just downloaded the image onto the circuit. Now…" He began fiddling with the settings again.

Melody crossed her arms, watching him struggle with his toy. "But I don't understand how this-''

Melody's thought was cut short. The Doctor quickly looked up at her with a furrowed brow that showed his concentration as he pointed the sonic at her face. The screwdriver produced a deep blue light and he continued to move the light down her body. Melody assumed the light was scanning her, but she wasn't completely sure. She could tell something was different about her.

"Doctor, what the _hell_ did you just do?" she asked tempestuously . Something was not right at all- her body felt out of whack and she felt wider and more filled out than normal. "Doctor, this isn't my voice! _This. Isn't. My. Fucking. Voice. _And this _definitely _is _not_ my body! WHAT DID YOU JUST DO TO ME," she barked in his face.

"Don't worry," he said, trying to calm the hysteric girl who seemed to be on the verge of tears. "I transported the queen's image into you so would 'become her,'" he continued. " Well, in a manner of speaking, anyway…. You aren't _actually _her, don't worry. It's simple enough."

"Not really, Doctor! You didn't even ask! You actually thought this wouldn't be a big deal? How long am I going to stay like this?" She asked becoming flustered.

"Well it's not permanent, if that's what worried about. I'll switch you back after we get inside the city." He got right in her face now, pushing his eyebrows and hairline so far up his forehead that she wasn't sure if they were still attached to his head. "But for now, it is _vital_ that you don't act like yourself so we can get in." he said to her.

Melody rolled her eyes at him and quickly stood up from her spot in the wet grass. When she stepped out from behind the pile of rocks, she didn't realize how exposed they had been. Had she or the Doctor have been one inch in a different place, they would have been seen. Now that she had gained almost three inches to her height, she was happily surprised when she found that she could walk much faster than the Doctor; he literally had to run to keep up with her rushed pace.

_Now I regret changing her, too,_ he said to himself, huffing and puffing like an angry old man.

When he reached the line of people which she had reached about 15 seconds before him, she was practically swimming through the line because she was recognized as the queen. The Doctor was still jogging to keep up, holding his psychic paper up to people so he could get through as well.

"Sir Doctor, queen's bodyguard, please excuse me," he would say to anybody who wouldn't part the way.

He finally caught up to her at the end of the line, and to his dismay, he found that she had been in a deep conversation with two of the surgeons.

"Ah, and here he is now. Hello, Sir Doctor!" she said, motioning at him. He was still panting from the short marathon he had just ran, slicking his hair back and trying to tuck his shirt back into his trousers discreetly.

"Hello, Your Majesty," he bowed slightly at the waist when he had caught a breath. "And hello, er, doctors! Well, I hope you had a good time talking to her majesty, but if you don't mind, we are in a bit of a rush, so if you could let us through now…"

"Oh yes, sir. Sorry Sir. We just wanted to be sure her majesty had an escort to go through with." The stockier doctor replied dutifully.

"Well, here I am- her extremely reliable bodyguard. Now have a fine day, gentlemen," The Doctor said undiplomatically, as he took hold of Melody's shoulders and pushed her through the gates.

"Don't ever walk away from me again!" He whispered furiously in her ear.

"Oh come on, Doctor! I was only having a little fun!" she said, taunting him, turning her head 80 degrees to look at him out of the corner of her eye.

"Yeah well something isn't safe about this place. So don't wander off to have 'fun' unless _I say _it's safe. Can you do that?"

"Ugh… You sound just like my dad. Whatever, yeah, sure. Change me back now please," Melody said stepping behind a large bin.

The Doctor switched the setting on his sonic and waved it back over Melody. She felt her body return to its natural state.

"Thank you, Doctor."

"Don't mention it," he said, making no eye contact as he returned the screwdriver to its home in his pocket. "Now come on! We have a queen to meet!" he grabbed her hand and began running down the street, energy pumping through Melody's bones; the Doctor felt her pulse as he squeezed her hand, and the thrill of his new companion made his hearts jump in his chest.

"Doctor," Melody said panting from the exercise and starting to slow down, "do you really know where you're going? We've been running forever!"

"Yes, Melody, I know exactly where we're going," he lied. "And by the way- forever feels a lot longer than this." He muttered, looking at her struggling to keep running.

They continued sprinting down the unknown streets of New Paris. After a final turn, the Doctor and Melody came to a halt at the base of a huge marble structure, radiant and colossal; superior to any building she had ever seen before.

"Is that…" Melody trailed of at the sight of its beauty.

"The Palace of New France! Otherwise known as Le Palais du Soleil," he said finishing her sentence.

"It's amazing!" She said breath taken. "If we had anything like this on earth-"

"It wouldn't be earth." The Doctor looked down at Melody with concerned, caring eyes. "Now come on."

He started walking up the polished marble steps with little Melody following behind him. Her shoes clip-clopped all the way to the top, making her sound like some sort of ungraceful horse.

When he got to the top, he straightened his fez, took out his psychic paper and held out his arm for Melody to take. Then, as if he visited palaces every day, he knocked on the door with a big smile and waited.

After standing silently for far too long, someone finally came the door.

"Bonjour, Monsieur!" that was the moment when Melody realized the Doctor spoke worse French than her. He continued: "Sir Doctor and Lady Melody from the planet Sorita- We're here to see the queen."


End file.
